


Many the Miles

by doingthemost, singsongsung



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: F/F, Let Alexis Rose Eat, Long-Distance Relationship, Sickfic, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:06:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29347104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doingthemost/pseuds/doingthemost, https://archiveofourown.org/users/singsongsung/pseuds/singsongsung
Summary: There's a hesitance on the other end, before Alexis speaks up again. "I mean, I super miss you, Twy. Of course I want you here. But –" She sneezes again. "I'm like, super gross and on my deathbed and stuff. So not –" Another sneeze, followed by a huffing, disgruntled nose. Despite Alexis' illness, Twyla can't help but smile as she tries to imagine the face Alexis is making. "So not a cute look for me, babe."On the weekend Twyla is supposed to visit Alexis in NYC, Alexis gets a cold.Twyla goes anyway.
Relationships: Alexis Rose/Twyla Sands
Comments: 15
Kudos: 44
Collections: Schitt's Creek Season 7





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [SCSeason7](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/SCSeason7) collection. 



> Thank you to sonlali for giving this a read-through!
> 
> **Prompt:**
> 
> 705: Alexis gets another miserable cold her first winter in NY. She jokes over text to Twyla that it's too bad Mutt can't bring her soup this time, but it was Twyla who had told Mutt to bring her own special soup recipe all those years ago, and it's Twyla who shows up at Alexis's door now to take care of her.

"Twy," Alexis croaks when Twyla picks up her phone. "Twy?"

"Alexis?" Twyla nearly drops the phone in alarm; she's never heard her like this before, so quiet and worn-out. She looks at her watch, checking the time, as her mind tries to fill in the blanks. "Are you okay? Did you get mugged?"

There's a cough on the other end of the line. "No, oh my _god_. No." Another cough, then: "I'm sick, Twy."

"Oh." Twyla glances at the suitcase at the foot of her bed, packed to the brim with first date outfits and sightseeing outfits and cute pyjamas and all the books she's been wanting to read. Her heart sinks; she'd been looking to this weekend for so long, and her flight's the next morning. "Lex, I'm so sorry. What do you think you have?"

"I think it's just a cold." Alexis sniffles, and Twyla tries to picture Alexis in her tiny little West Village apartment, sniffly and sneezy and sad. She squeezes the phone tighter. "I hope so, anyway. But I don't –" She cuts herself off, then sneezes. "I don't think you should come, babe. "

Maybe she shouldn't. Alexis is sick, and Twyla works in food service. And her trip was only supposed to be for four days. But she's been missing Alexis with every fiber of her being, ever since she drove her to the airport after New Year's, when everything had changed between them, and her plane tickets are already in her travel purse.

"Are you sure?" Twyla's mind is made up, but she'll stay put if Alexis really doesn't want her to come.

There's a hesitance on the other end, before Alexis speaks up again. "I mean, I super miss you, Twy. Of course I want you here. But –" She sneezes again. "I'm like, super gross and on my deathbed and stuff. So not –" Another sneeze, followed by a huffing, disgruntled nose. Despite Alexis' illness, Twyla can't help but smile as she tries to imagine the face Alexis is making. "So not a cute look for me, babe."

"That's okay." Twyla's nodding, even though Alexis can't see her. "I don't mind, Lex. I just – I really miss you, too. Is it okay if I still fly out tomorrow? And is there anything I can do before then?"

Alexis coughs again, then again, before she says, "I don't know. Mutt made me soup this one time I was sick? But you can't make me soup from there." Alexis makes another little sound, and this time Twyla can vividly picture the pout she must be wearing. "Why did I move so far away?"

"Because you're making your dreams come true," Twyla reminds her, firm yet kind. "And I'll be there tomorrow. Okay?"

"Okay, Twy." Alexis yawns, then clears her throat. "I should go. I think my Nyquil's kicking in."

"Night, Lex. I'll see you tomorrow."

🍲🍲🍲🍲

Ray drops her off at the airport the next morning after a brisk, four hour drive down to Toronto. Her head's packed so full of business tips and suggestions – different tweaks to the menu here and there, ideas about wallpaper and upholstery, and special events to host – that she almost feels like she's sick, too. But then she takes her ticket out of her bag, focuses on _JFK Airport_ , and everything's clear again.

It's going to take an additional two hours on a plane after the long car ride, and then she's got another hour and a half or so on the subway. But it's all worth it just to be around Alexis again, to hold her close and smell her hair, to bask in the warmth of her attention and smile. She can deal with long security lines and overwhelming crowds and packed planes. The subway system's easy enough to manage, even if she almost gets turned around four times underground, when she imagines Alexis at the end of her journey.

She pictures them here, together, a mix of memories from her visit last fall and what she wished this weekend would be: laughing on the subway together, lost in their own world and oblivious to the one around them, their knees touching as they slouch against each other on hard plastic seats. Alexis likes to take her hand sometimes as they navigate their way up and out, squeezing tightly and forging onward. Twyla would follow her anywhere.

She imagines them combining their lives, merging their closets and shoes – half of Twyla's stuff used to be Alexis', anyway, so it'd be easy enough – and learning each other anew. Alexis is her best friend, but Twyla's sure there's still more to discover. She wants to know what Alexis looks like when she wakes up, and how they'd fit together at night.

By the time she's emerged from the Washington Square station and found her way over to Alexis' apartment building, she's built an entire world for them in her head. It's almost enough for her to remember that despite their kiss on New Year's Eve, they haven't even once talked about what they feel for each other.

🍲🍲🍲🍲

Sometimes, Twyla isn't sure if she's reading too deeply into everything.

Alexis had made a point of stressing how she wasn't going to spend Valentine's Day with anyone and how important it was for them to spend the weekend after the holiday together. And they talk on the phone almost every night, whenever work or Alexis' obligations to the Interflix social schedule haven't gotten in the way, and Alexis is almost always the person Twyla first hears from in the morning, even if it's just a simple text.

But maybe they're just best friends who'd kissed once. That happens sometimes. Or so she's been told, anyway. And if that's what they are, Twyla can make her peace with that. She's already loved Alexis for three years; what's a lifetime more?

🍲🍲🍲🍲

She double-checks the number on the building as the phone rings, and Alexis picks up after a couple of rings.

"Twy?" There's a yawn, before Alexis adds, "Hey, babe, what's up?"

"I'm here! Outside your building." Twyla's trying not to sound too excited, but Alexis is so close, and it's been almost two whole months since they last saw each other. "Can you let me in?"

"Ohmygod, Twy!" Alexis pauses, and there's a faint rustling sound in the background. "Babe, I didn't – I remember calling you last night, and we talked about it, but – I didn't think you were actually going to still fly out!"

"Yeah, I – Is that all right?" Twyla bites her lip, then looks up at the building, guessing which one belongs to Alexis. "That I'm here?"

" _Yes_ , Twy, of course. I'll be _right there_." Some more rustling, then: "Just hold on to that cute lil' butt of yours, kay?"

"Of course."

She counts to thirty, taking her time, and then starts over again, and then the door to the building flies open and Alexis is there. She's – well. She's kind of a mess, nothing like how Twyla's ever seen her before, in faded gray sweatpants and slippers and an oversized knit sweater that she's sure belongs to David. Her hair's up in a messy, half-undone knot, and her nose, bright red, stands out on her pale, unpolished face.

Twyla beams, and barely catches herself from pulling Alexis into a tight hug. "God, Lex, it's so good to see you."

Alexis returns the smile, and for a moment it's like they're the only people who matter. Twyla can't hear the bustle of pedestrians, or the sound of traffic, and all she can see is Alexis.

"I can't believe you came." Alexis bites her lip, her eyes big and full of gratitude and something else, just below the surface, written in a language Twyla hopes she'll eventually understand. "Come on, let's go upstairs."

"Great idea." Twyla flashes a smile at Alexis as they start to move inside. "I hear I have some soup to make."

🍲🍲🍲🍲

Alexis' apartment is tiny, so Twyla only brought a carry-on and an oversized bag, one that Alexis had given her before moving here. She sets them down beside the couch, smiling to herself as she takes in the typical disarray of Alexis' natural habitat, made only worse by her illness. Twyla kind of likes it this way, though, more so than when she'd first been here. It feels more like Alexis, more lived-in, like this is really becoming her home.

"Sorry I'm so gross," Alexis says, once she's finished blowing her nose. There's a stack of used tissues spilling out of the little trash can on the 'bedroom' side of her studio apartment, and she gets right back into bed after another round of nose-blowing. "I'm just like…" She scrunches up her face, and gestures towards her head with one wrist. "I feel like my head's gonna explode from, like, all of the snot."

"I know." Twyla takes a seat on the edge of the bed. Alexis is watching her warily, like she doesn't want Twyla to come too close, so Twyla tries to be content with resting her hand on the blankets, over where she guesses Alexis' leg is outstretched. "Just rest, okay?"

"But you're here." Alexis pouts as she leans back against her throne of pillows, her face open and unguarded. She's vulnerable like this, and Twyla feels lucky that Alexis is allowing her to see her this way. "You flew all the way down here, even though I'm sick and won't be able to do anything fun."

"Lex, it's okay. Just sleep it off, and I'll…" Twyla looks over her shoulder at Alexis' kitchen. It's relatively large for New York standards, according to Alexis, but she isn't certain about the contents of that fridge. "Are there grocery stores in New York City?"

"Um, kind of?" Alexis tilts her head against one of her pillows, blinking lazily, then picks her phone up from her nightstand, unlocks it, and hands it to Twyla. Her wallpaper's a photo of the two of them at David and Patrick's wedding, yin and yang in black and white, and Twyla's heart skips a beat before she pulls herself together. "There's a FreshDirect app on the homescreen. You can use that for whatever you need."

"Okay." It makes more sense than carrying bags of groceries on the subway or in a cab, but Twyla's still perplexed by the thought of someone actually delivering groceries to their building. She misses her car for a minute, but the thought of actually driving in New York's enough to chase that thought away almost as quickly as it arrived in her mind.

She knows the recipe for chicken noodle soup by heart, and is in the middle of adding a few extra things for breakfast and snacks when Alexis pipes up again. She's half-asleep by this point, and she mumbles, "Babe, can you get me some popsicles, too?"

"Of course." Twyla hits the _Add to Cart_ button on Alexis' phone, then sets it down. "Anything you want is fine with me, Lex."

🍲🍲🍲🍲

It doesn't take much longer for Alexis to fall asleep. Luckily, she's a sound, heavy, sleeper; Twyla tries to move around the studio apartment as quietly as she can, but some noise is unavoidable. She busies herself with the trash first, picking up what she can see, and then goes through her suitcase. She grabbed a bottle of fire cider on her way out to Ray's car, double-bagging it to avoid spills and tucking it into her check-in bag, and she sets it on the counter for when Alexis wakes up. She then retrieves some paint and upholstery samples for the café, and a summary of their numbers for the final quarter of the last year and how the current quarter's shaping up to be.

She talks business sometimes with Patrick, most often when he's at the counter and dipping grilled cheese triangles into tomato soup. He works in spreadsheets on his computer, but it's all still new to Twyla and she prefers to figure it out by hand on print-outs. She can tell Patrick's sometimes impatient with her, wishes she relied on built-in formulas instead of her hand-written notes, but she has her own way of doing things. And if she's going to own the café, which she does, she wants to understand it from the inside out.

For now, though, the numbers can wait. She meets the FreshDirect delivery person downstairs with a $100 tip, then starts cooking. There's stock to make first, and she barely resists the urge to hum under her breath as she starts placing carrots, celery, and onions in the largest pot Alexis has. She puts it on to boil, prepares the rotisserie chicken for later, and salts the water before she lowers the heat.

Twyla's about to go back to the 'living room' when a photo of herself catches her eye on Alexis' fridge. It's from when she visited Alexis in October, a print-out of a selfie they'd taken before going out for dinner and drinks. Alexis had insisted on doing something called an iridescent halo eye, then had immortalized her efforts with a photo that Twyla had posted to her Instagram at the time. They're standing close together in Alexis' doorway, Alexis' arm draped around Twyla's shoulders, and it's the happiest Twyla can remember herself looking in a photo in a long time.

She reaches out, touching the photo briefly with her fingertips, before she settles back on Alexis' couch and pulls her work onto her lap.

🍲🍲🍲🍲

Alexis tosses and turns a couple of times throughout the afternoon, and wakes up long enough for Twyla to try and coax some of the fire cider down her throat.

"Twy," she says, wrinkling her nose. "This is, like, hardcore."

"I know." Twyla's trying not to laugh, but the look on Alexis' face is so reminiscent of a fussy cat, she can't quite help herself. "But I promise, it's going to help."

"What's in this?" Alexis sniffs the fire cider again, then looks dubiously up at Twyla. "You really drink this?"

"Yeah, of course. I always have." Twyla reaches out and strokes Alexis' hair, tucking some errant strands behind her ear. "It's just apple cider vinegar, ginger, garlic…" She tilts her head, smiling nonchalantly. "Some other magical stuff. It'll do wonders, I swear. It'll just burn a little, but then you'll be good to go soon."

"It'll just 'burn a little'?" Alexis gives a little sarcastic shimmy, but that determined set of her jaw is on her face now, and her eyes are flashing with amusement.

Twyla should've known that if she framed it as a dare, Alexis wouldn't have put up so much of a fuss. "Yeah. I used to take this all the time as a kid. Why, are you scared of it?"

"Of course not." Alexis takes the cup out of Twyla's hand, eyebrows raised as she considers it, before she tilts her head back and swallows it in one fell swoop. She coughs, and Twyla immediately holds a follow-up cup of water out to her, too.

"You should try and sleep more," Twyla says, still trying not to laugh outright again. "But if you're going to stay up, you should take some of this every two hours."

Alexis holds a hand up to her chest. "Is it, like. Should I feel it kind of… tingling? Like in my throat, and all the way down?"

"Yeah, definitely! That's just the magic burning up all the germs."

"Got it." Alexis reaches a hand out, settling it on Twyla's wrist, and their eyes meet. Sickness and all, Twyla's never seen anyone as beautiful as Alexis with tired eyes and rumpled hair. Alexis licks her lips, swallowing a few more droplets of fire cider, and smiles. "What would I do without you, Twy?"

Twyla's breath catches in her throat, and she's almost of half a mind to confess just how much she wants to pull Alexis close and kiss her again, colds be damned, but she swallows around the words. "I'm just glad I'm here with you, Lex," she says, and smiles as Alexis does, too.

🍲🍲🍲🍲

Twyla finds a jazz piano station on Spotify and puts it on, and Alexis is out again within fifteen minutes. She smooths Alexis' hair again, tucks the blankets around her, and withdraws to the other side of the apartment again to check on the soup.

She boils the noodles, drains them, adds the reserved chicken to the soup, then tosses in plenty of dill and sage and stirs in double figure eights for good luck. She tastes it, thinking of how Alexis' face lights up whenever they see each other, salts again, then turns the heat off.

Twyla isn't sure when Alexis will wake up, so she leaves the noodles on the side and reaches for a book. But before she can stretch out on Alexis' couch and open it to her bookmark, she catches a glimpse of her name on a whiteboard calendar on Alexis' wall. It's above her desk, detailing work meetings and deadlines and big days, but there's also a series of pink, red, and purple hearts surrounding big, looping letters that read: _Twy in NYC!!_

She reaches out, tracing the letters and hearts with her fingertip, just centimeters away from the whiteboard's surface. She's not trying to erase Alexis' handiwork, just feel closer to the woman sleeping on the other side of the apartment.

Her movements grow slower, quieter, as she tiptoes back over to Alexis' bed and the closet next to it. The doors are open, and there's an assortment of hangers and outfits on the front that range from casual to dressy and showstopping. They're labeled with different post-it notes, ranging from _Twy Visit Outfit #1_ to _Twy Visit Outfit #23_ , and Twyla swallows around a sudden lump in her throat, blinking back tears.

She's elated, emotional, and frightened all at the same time, and she has to hold in the urge to shake Alexis awake and tell her she loves her. Twyla knows what's in her heart, and she'd been so patient and hopeful, but she'd never been entirely sure of what Alexis wanted until now. It isn't the weekend either of them had planned, but she thinks they can make the most of it anyway, once Alexis wakes up.

🍲🍲🍲🍲

Once Alexis stirs, then rises, Twyla's next to her within seconds, coaxing her up and helping her settle against her headboard. "Hungry?" she asks, and is rewarded with a brighter smile than before.

"Starving, babe." Alexis reaches up to undo her topknot, then makes a face as she combs through her hair with her hands. "Ugh. Do I look super disgusting?"

Twyla leans over, peeking at Alexis around the corner of Alexis' kitchen nook, and beams. "You look radiant," she promises. And it's true: Alexis' presence is like sunshine spreading through her quiet apartment, filling her up and warming her heart.

She carries a tray with a bowl of soup back to the bed, and Alexis takes it from her, biting her lip briefly as she places everything on her lap, then lifts her gaze to search Twyla's face as she taps her fingers against the tray.

"Is this mine?"

"It is now!" Twyla circles the bed and takes a seat on the vacant side of it, careful to not unsettle the soup. "I bought it from the bodega downstairs."

Alexis picks up the spoon, but instead of taking a bite, she brushes her fingers against the little vase Twyla had put in the corner of the tray, holding a single rose. "And where did this come from?"

"Downstairs." There's a confession on Twyla's lips that's ready to spill out, but Alexis' eyes are on hers and Twyla's tongue-tied. She can see how things could go from there, and she wants it so much, it terrifies her. Everything's about to change, and she resolves to savour one more night with them as best friends before it does.

So instead of an _I love you_ , she says, "I wanted to brighten your evening."

One corner of Alexis' mouth quirks up into a smile, like she knows exactly what's on Twyla's mind. "You make everything brighter, Twy."

🍲🍲🍲🍲

After two more servings of fire cider, bookending a long, steamy bath for Alexis' sinuses, they put on _Legally Blonde_. But Alexis' couch isn't very big, and she insists on space.

"You know we're going to be sharing this whole apartment for three more days, right?" Twyla asks with a grin, poking at Alexis' leg with her foot.

"Well, _yes_ , but –" Alexis wiggles her shoulders, a full wiggle at almost all of her usual wiggling energy, and Twyla's gratified to see her regaining some of her strength. "I don't want to get you sick."

"I've been taking the fire cider, too," Twyla says. "It's also preventative."

"It better be, since I swear I can still feel it, like. Burning up my stomach."

"Yeah?" Twyla reaches out before she can stop herself, almost like she's forgotten that Alexis is sick, and digs her fingertips into Alexis' side.

Alexis laughs, squirming as she tries to bat away at Twyla's hand before deciding to fight tickles with more tickles. Twyla catches Alexis' wrists in her hands and she comes to a stop in Twyla's grasp, her breathing quick and shallow and her hair everywhere, her face unadorned with anything heavier than the light-touch moisturizer she keeps telling Twyla about, and they're so close to each other and despite her sickness, Alexis has never been prettier, and Twyla has never loved her more.

But then Alexis' face scrunches, and Twyla lets go of her in time for Alexis to bring her elbow up and sneeze into it.

" _Ugh_ ," Alexis says with an irritated, almost-venomous passion, drawing away from Twyla with an apologetic, grossed-out look on her face. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay." Twyla smiles at her, then nods at the movie. "Should we restart this?"

"Yeah, sure." Alexis reaches for the remote, and they settle back on opposite sides of the couch. But Twyla can't resist the urge to rest her arm in the center of it, and she smiles at Alexis when she places her hand on Twyla's forearm and traces patterns on Twyla's skin.


	2. Chapter 2

Alexis drifts off during the scene where Elle arrives at the Halloween party, and wakes up to the feeling of Twyla's fingers tracing over her cheek, down her neck and across her shoulder, then skimming gently down her arm. 

"Hey, honey," Twyla murmurs as Alexis stirs. Her voice is brimming with such tenderness that it's almost like Alexis can feel it wrapping around her body, like a cozy, soft blanket. "Let's get you to bed." 

"Mm, Twy," Alexis sighs, smiling faintly despite the woolly feeling in her head and the soreness in her neck from the angle at which her head lolled onto the couch. "S'that a proposition?" 

Twyla laughs quietly. Alexis' apartment is dark, aside from the tiny bit of blue light emanating from the TV, and Twyla's smile is a sliver of brightness. Alexis almost reaches out to touch it before she remembers her germ-infested fingers. 

"You need rest," Twyla says, tugging Alexis gently to her feet. 

Alexis can't help but wrap her arms around Twyla, pulling her close. Twyla's face presses into Alexis' sternum, and she loops her arms around Alexis' waist as she lays her lips against Alexis' skin. 

"You're warm," Twyla says, a frown in her voice. She goes to pull away, but Alexis keeps a tight hold on her, just for a few more seconds. 

"You should probably sleep on the couch, Twy," she says, despite how reluctant she is to put any distance between them. "I don't think it'll be that comfy; I should've thought to get you a hotel room -" 

"Don't be silly." Twyla does pull back from their embrace, then, but she leaves one hand against Alexis' hip as she presses the back of the other against Alexis' forehead. "I want to be here with you." 

"I want you with me, too." Alexis attempts to sniffle delicately, but ends up making a very gross, loud snuffling sound. She steps away from Twyla. "But my stupid leaky face has been, like, all over the bed, and I really don't want your souvenir from this visit to be -" She waves an irritated hand at her general being. "This." 

"It's okay, Lex." Twyla's voice is so full of kindness again, that sweetness that burrows into Alexis' heart and makes it feel greedy for more, but her tone is firm. "I'm happy to be here, even if this isn't the visit we were imagining." She puts her hands on Alexis' hip and spins her around, then steers her toward the bed. Despite how nasty she's feeling, Alexis shimmies a little, pleasantly surprised by the gentle manhandling. 

Twyla fluffs her pillows and tucks the blankets around her, and then brings Alexis some acetaminophen and a glass of water with a bamboo straw that must've been another one of her bodega purchases. 

Alexis swallows the pill, and burrows down beneath the covers, her eyelids already heavy again. "Twy," she says, and then pauses. Her throat is hurting, but not like it did when she first got sick; more like it's clogged up with words that are shy about coming out of her mouth. "I just - I wanted to say -" She swallows, and licks her dry lips. "No one's ever -"

"Shh," Twyla says, pushing Alexis' hair off of her forehead. Her eyes look soft and shiny in the dim light. "Have sweet dreams," she adds, in that same sweet-but-firm tone she was using before, like just saying it could make it so. 

"I will," Alexis promises, and closes her eyes, aware of the weight of Twyla's gaze on her face for another long moment.

  


🍲🍲🍲🍲

  


In the middle of the night, a coughing fit wakes Alexis up - and it wakes Twyla up, too, given the size of the apartment. 

"Lex?" Twyla asks, her voice bleary but urgent, sitting up on the couch. "You okay?" 

"Yeah," Alexis tells her after slurping down some water. "Yeah. Go back to sleep, babe."

She shuffles to the washroom, where she coughs for a couple minutes behind a closed door, and then traces her steps back to her bed, where she faceplants into a pillow with a groan. 

"Alexis?" 

"I'm okay," Alexis promises, flopping over onto her side. She feels disgusting and a little bit sorry for herself, but she is, _technically_ okay. 

"Can I get you anything?" Twyla asks. 

Alexis snatches a tissue out of the box just in time to sneeze into it. "A new nose?" 

Twyla gets up off the couch and circles around to the back of it, leaning against it. Alexis can envision the worried crease between her brows perfectly. "I think your brother might know where to get one," she says, that little note in her voice, shy and mischievous, that always appears when she says something that might not be entirely kind. 

Alexis intends to gasp dramatically at Twyla's very excellent David burn, but her fake gasp turns into some very real coughing. She muffles it as best as she can in the sleeve of her sweater, and Twyla crosses the apartment, coming to stand at the foot of the bed. 

"Twy…" Alexis makes an expansive shooing motion with one hand. "My germs." 

"I've already been exposed to your germs," Twyla says, not for the first time. "Let me lay down and hold you, Lex."

Alexis sighs, pouting a little as she stifles another cough. It's late, and everything feels so _yuck_ ; there's no way her resolve can hold, not with Twyla standing right by the bed, looking at her with big eyes like all she's ever wanted in the whole universe is to put her head on Alexis' petri dish of a pillow. 

"Okay," she says, reaching over to the other side of the bed and flipping over the pillow in question. It's the least she can do. 

Twyla smiles, and makes quick work of sliding beneath the blankets and scooting closer to Alexis. She rests a hand, with a kind of pleasant pressure, just beneath Alexis' sternum, her pinkie finger on one of Alexis' breasts. "I should've bought you some VapoRub," she muses, before tracing a finger down Alexis' throat and dipping it beneath the collar of her sweater. 

Shamelessly, Alexis arches into the touch, her desperation for Twyla's hands on her body at war with her achy limbs and the fact that she is _very_ much not at her sexiest. "I'm sweaty," she says, which is theoretically a protest, or maybe an apology, but she's also slipping one of her legs between Twyla's, pressing her thigh upward and making Twyla's lashes flutter in surprise. 

"Alexis," Twyla tsks, but her voice is low, and a beat passes before she moves away. "Your - your fever probably broke. That's good." She pushes herself into a seated position and pulls Alexis up too, slipping her hands under Alexis' sweater from the bottom this time. "Let's take this off." 

"Mm, totally, Twy," Alexis says, lifting her arms up so that Twyla can pull the sweater up over her head. 

"Lie down again," Twyla prompts once she's tossed the sweater aside, and Alexis does as she's told, settling on her back and reaching up with one hand to twine her fingers in Twyla's hair. 

Twyla tilts her head so that her cheek brushes Alexis' hand, and Alexis can't quite see her smile, but she can _feel_ it, somehow. "Face that way," she instructs, gesturing to the edge of Alexis' side of the bed. 

Alexis gives her head a little shake, curling her fingers into her palm to resist the temptation to touch Twyla's perfect, pretty mouth. "I wanna look at you." 

"Babe," Twyla says. Her voice is breathy, a touch ragged, like she's holding herself back every bit as much as Alexis is. 

"Twy," Alexis returns softly. She drags her knuckles down the line of Twyla's throat. "You've never called me that before." 

She can feel the quick rise and fall of Twyla's chest. "If you don't like it, Lex -"

"No, I _like_ it," Alexis says. "I really like it." She feels herself tilting her chin up, waiting for a kiss she _knows_ they shouldn't share. "Say it again, Twy."

Twyla leans in closer, her breath on Alexis' skin. "Babe," she says. "Roll over and I'll rub your back." 

"But -" 

Twyla wraps her fingers around Alexis' wrist, her grip surprisingly strong. "The more you rest, the quicker you'll feel better." 

Alexis pokes her lower lip out, disappointed to be faced with logic when Twyla's face is so close to hers, when she's calling Alexis _babe_ and stroking Alexis' pulse point with her thumb. "I can rest while still _looking_ at you," she insists, and slides an arm around Twyla's waist to pull Twyla down onto the mattress next to her, simultaneously shifting onto her side so that they're facing one another with their heads on her pillows. Twyla looks like she might be tempted to agree, so Alexis wiggles closer and says, "You can rub my back like this, can't you, baby?" 

After a quick inhale, Twyla exhales a laugh. "You're so stubborn, Alexis," she says, resting a hand against Alexis' hip for a second before she slides her hand under Alexis' cotton tee. The coolness of Twyla's fingers on Alexis' warm skin makes her gasp. 

"You like it," she says, tugging on Twyla's sleep shirt to bring her closer. 

"Hm," Twyla murmurs, sliding her hand up Alexis' bare back and starting to rub slow circles. "Are you always like this when you're sick?" 

Alexis sighs, letting her eyes fall shut. "I don't know. There's not usually - someone else there, when I'm sick." 

After a beat of silence, she feels Twyla's lips press against her forehead. "I'm here," she says quietly. "Go to sleep, and when you wake up, I'll be right here."

  


🍲🍲🍲🍲

  


When she falls asleep with Twyla's hand stroking her back and her want for more of Twyla's touch simmering throughout her body, Alexis half-expects to have one of the dirty dreams that have been occupying her nights recently. She's been waking up all riled up, her mind filled with images of Twyla's mouth, her breasts, and freckles on her neck marked up by Alexis' teeth. 

But her sickness-addled mind apparently has other ideas, because Twyla's in her dream, but they're not in Alexis' bed. They're in a field, or maybe a meadow, and birds are singing crisp notes as the sun rises in the sky. Twyla is smiling at Alexis, her hair spread out on the grass and glittering with flecks of gold under the sunlight. There are flowers behind one of her ears, and she tucks a begonia, bright and blooming, behind one of Alexis'. 

"You're beautiful, babe," Twyla says. She pushes herself up onto her elbows, and Alexis' heart jumps as she leans down to meet Twyla halfway, but Twyla just kisses the tip of her nose. 

"You are, Twy," Alexis says sincerely. "I want to kiss you; please, can I -"

"Do you know where we are?" Twyla interrupts, lying down again. Alexis joins her, stretched out on her stomach, eyes glued to Twyla's face. 

"No," she says. 

"Together," Twyla tells her, and then she cups the back of Alexis' neck with her hand and draws her close and - 

A high-pitched trilling sound yanks Alexis from sleep, and she opens her eyes to see Twyla bolting out of bed and toward the couch, where she grabs her cell phone and turns off the alarm. 

"Oh my god," Twyla breathes, shaking her head. Her hair is a mess, and her pyjama pants are twisted at the waist. "I'm so sorry, Lex, I forgot I had that set to go off every day." 

"S'okay," Alexis mumbles, stretching an arm out across the bed. "Come back." 

Twyla returns to the bed, but before she curls up beneath the blankets again she holds her hand against Alexis' forehead. "You don't seem too hot," she says.

Her expression is so thoughtful, so serious, that Alexis' mouth forms a lazy smile. "I have the best nurse." She plucks at the waist of Twyla's pants. "We just need to get you a hot lil' uniform." 

Twyla gives her eyes a tiny roll, but she doesn't say _no way_ or anything, and Alexis files that fact away for future discussion. "How are you feeling?" 

Alexis shifts a bit, taking stock of her body. "Okay, I think. Not _great_ , but better than yesterday. My throat doesn't hurt anymore." 

"Good!" Twyla says. "That's really good. I think you're through the worst of it." 

"Me too." Alexis stares up into her beautiful, expressive eyes. "Think it's safe for us to snuggle?"

"You might still be contagious," Twyla says, but she's getting under the blankets again, her legs brushing Alexis'. "But I think we'll just have to risk it."

  


🍲🍲🍲🍲

  


Alexis dozes on and off for the next couple hours, feeling completely relaxed and absurdly happy to have Twyla wrapped in her arms. Twyla's breath is warm, tickling over her skin, and her hair smells like pomegranates. Her thumb moves in idle strokes over Alexis' hipbone, an intimate touch, and her toes press into Alexis' calf. When Alexis draws her closer, arm pressing into the small of Twyla's back, their breasts press together through their t-shirts, and Twyla's whole hand curves around Alexis' hip like she needs to steady herself. Alexis breathes a sigh and lets her nose brush along Twyla's before she sinks back into slumber. 

When she wakes up again, she doesn't quite feel _refreshed_ , but definitely feels closer to it than she has in a couple days. She takes a long, steamy shower, her mind wandering, over and over again, to the feeling of Twyla pressed against her in bed. 

When she steps out of the bathroom, Twyla's stripped the bed and apparently also taken the sheets down to the laundry room, emptied Alexis' overflowing garbage can, cracked open a window and pulled back all the curtains, and has toast and scrambled eggs waiting for Alexis, along with a tall glass of orange dress. 

" _Twy_ ," she says, eyebrows lifting. "Wow." 

"It's good to get sickness out of your body _and_ out of your space," Twyla says. She's pulled her hair up into the cutest little messy bun, and she's dressed in a sweater and a pair of leggings that do very unfair things for her ass. 

"Mmhm," Alexis agrees. She finds a pair of lacy panties in her dresser and pulls them on underneath the towel she's got tucked beneath her arms. Twyla stills with a dish towel in her hands, her eyes tracking Alexis' movements. Alexis drops the towel altogether but she pulls on a fresh t-shirt, one that she bought on impulse from Elmdale College when she got her PR certificate. When she pokes her head out of it, she sees that Twyla's hands have tightened on the dish towel. 

"You okay, babe?" she asks playfully, and Twyla's eyes rise to meet hers. Alexis loves to flirt, loves to tease, but she's never been met with a reaction quite like the one Twyla is giving her. Twyla's eyes are a little wide, and Alexis thinks there's the beginning of a flush on her neck, but she doesn't smirk or duck her head or flip her hair. She just _looks_ at Alexis, the hunger in her eyes so _honest_ , so totally unabashed and yet not quite brazen, and nods. 

And _Alexis_ is the one who feels breathless, feels unbalanced. "Good," she says, in a much quieter voice. 

Twyla smiles and folds the towel over the bar on Alexis' oven. "Come eat before it gets cold." 

Alexis tugs on a pair of silk pyjama shorts, and pads over to her tiny, two-person table in her bare feet. "You'll sit with me, right?" she asks, and reaches for Twyla's hand so that she can pull Twyla into her lap as soon as she sits down. 

Twyla looks amused, but her arms loop around Alexis' neck. "You're going to eat like this?" 

"Totally," Alexis says, and uses one hand to collect a bite of eggs on a fork as she curls her other hand around Twyla's inner thigh. 

"You seem better today," Twyla says as Alexis chews, brushing a couple strands of Alexis' damp hair behind her ear. "I'm glad."

"Me too." Alexis inches her hand higher, just barely. "I'm sorry you had to spend the _whole_ first day of your visit taking care of me. And I'm sorry I slept through so much of it." 

"You needed that rest, babe." Twyla takes the fork Alexis is holding loosely, spears some more scrambled eggs, and holds it to Alexis' mouth. Alexis drags her lips slowly along the tines, her eyes on Twyla's. "And it was nice for me, too, to have a little time to just rest. Things have been so busy at the café." 

Alexis nods seriously. "Being a boss is a lot of work. And you give yourself to everything you do." 

"I like it," Twyla says. "I love the café. And I'm really proud of what I'm doing." 

"You totally _should_ be, babe," Alexis says, reaching around Twyla to pick up a piece of toast. "And I wanted this to be, like -" She shimmies,. "A very rejuvenating visit for you. But I didn't want to just leave you sitting around my apartment like this."

"I didn't mind at all," Twyla assures her. 

"I know. I know, but -" Alexis sets down the slice of toast. "I just, I had all these plans for us. I wanted to show you a really, really good time." 

"I always have a good time with you, Lex. But I appreciate you making all those plans for us." Her eyes flick away from a beat, landing on Alexis' wall calendar. "It seems like you put a lot of thought into everything." 

Alexis glances at the calendar too, at all the hearts she drew on it around Twyla's visit. She'd very nearly started crossing off the days in anticipation. "I did," she says, then pauses before adding, "I - I really fucking miss you, Twy." 

Twyla smiles - not her big, broad grin but a small, fragile curve to her mouth that Alexis has only ever seen once before, on New Year's Eve, when they broke their kiss and stared at each other with a mixture of surprise and elation. "I miss you, too, Alexis. Every day." 

Something about Twyla's smile bolsters Alexis to say, "Every hour." 

"Every minute," Twyla says on half a laugh, and then they're finally, _finally_ kissing, Twyla's lips so soft against Alexis', her hands winding into Alexis' hair, tugging her head back just a little as her mouth coaxes Alexis' open, the kiss growing deeper in such a slow, luxurious way that it pulls a noise from Alexis' throat. 

"Twy," she practically pants against Twyla's mouth, unsure if she's breathing hard because she's turned on or because of her annoyingly, persistently stuffy nose. She skims her knuckles up Twyla's side, along the swell of her breast. 

"Mm, Lex," Twyla sighs, kissing the corner of Alexis' mouth and then mapping a path with her lips from Alexis' mouth, along her jaw, and to the spot beneath her ear. "I saw…" Her teeth tug lightly at Alexis' earlobe. "Twenty-three outfits in your closet." 

"I - I told you," Alexis murmurs, distracted by the way the tip of Twyla's tongue is tracing the shell of her ear. "I have _plans_." 

"You wanna tell me about that, babe?" 

Alexis' grip on Twyla's thigh is getting tight enough that it might bruise. "I wanted to take you to the Brooklyn Bridge, baby, and to this place with my favourite eclairs, and I thought -"

"I don't mean about the plans, exactly," Twyla interrupts. Her nose nudges against Alexis' cheekbone. "I mean about...how you were feeling. What made you make all those plans. Pick out all those outfits." 

Alexis can feel herself flushing, and she no longer has a fever to hide behind. "You know, Twy," she murmurs, tucking her face into Twyla's neck and pressing a gentle kiss to Twyla's skin. 

"Not really." Twyla rubs Alexis' shoulder. "Hard to know if you don't tell me, Lex." 

"I just…" Alexis sighs, straightening up and almost wishing she hadn't when she's met with the sight of Twyla's eyes, so warm and so steady, encouragement practically beaming out of them. "I… really, really care about you." 

"Me too, babe." Twyla cups Alexis' cheek in her hand, and Alexis wants her slender fingers everywhere, tracing her skin, teasing and caressing. "But you know that all you had to do was say that, right? In any outfit." 

Alexis drops her gaze, watching her own hand stroke up and down the inside of Twyla's thigh. "I don't know," she says very quietly. "I mean, _yes,_ I know, but I also… "

Twyla's hand is still on Alexis' cheek, and she uses it to lift Alexis' face to her own, capturing Alexis' lips with her own. Alexis sinks into the kiss gratefully, both arms wrapping tightly around Twyla's hips, and they kiss languidly for a long moment, Twyla's mouth yielding to hers, until Alexis' inconveniently still-stuffed nose demands that she break the kiss to suck in some air. 

"You also what, babe?" Twyla asks, brushing oh-so-soft kisses against each of Alexis' lips and the corners of her mouth. Alexis tries for another full-on kiss, but Twyla pulls back just enough to spoil her efforts. 

Alexis huffs a sigh, forced to settle for tugging at Twyla's hair and biting lightly at her throat, prompting Twyla to gasp and grip her shoulder. "I want to do everything I can to make this work," she says. "To make… you and me, what's starting between us, work. After - when we were talking every day after I left Schitt's Creek, and then after what happened over the holidays, I - I had so many feelings, so fast." She swallows hard and nips Twyla's skin again. "I thought maybe… after Ted, I thought that was maybe just, like, my chance. For… love. Because I'd never felt that way before. But then, with you…" 

"Kiss me, baby," Twyla breathes. She's seemed to know, from the very start, exactly what it is Alexis needs, and when, and this, Alexis pulling her into a bruising kiss, is no different. She shifts on Alexis' lap, straddling her instead, and makes a gorgeous noise when Alexis gets her hands up beneath her sweater and pulls Twyla's body as close to hers as she possibly can. 

"I don't want to mess it up," Alexis tells her, breathing hard between kisses. "I don't want to mess this up. I… couldn't handle it, if I did. Not when - not when I want you so _much_ , babe, not when - when I look at you and I -" She shakes her head, feeling abruptly overwhelmed. 

"Lex," Twyla murmurs sweetly, pushing her fingers gently through Alexis' hair. 

"I want to give you everything you give me," Alexis says. There's pressure building behind her eyes. "Twy, you even - I just, like, _mentioned_ a soup Mutt made me one time to you, and you… I don't know, you must've _called_ him or something, to ask about it, and that's so -"

"I made it."

" _Yeah_ ," Alexis agrees, blinking hard. "You made sure you knew how to make it for me." 

"No, babe." Twyla rolls her lips together, and Alexis is surprised to see that _Twyla_ looks nervous now, eyes still open but edged with a little vulnerability. "I made the soup. The soup Mutt brought you… three years ago." 

Alexis blinks again, thrown off by this new information. "What?" 

Twyla shrugs. "I heard him mention you were sick. That soup works miracles on sore throats, so I just… threw a batch together, and gave him a thermos to bring to you." 

"But -" Alexis looks at her with wide eyes, aware that her bafflement must be written all over her face. "But he was your ex. And I was his new girlfriend." 

A single crease appears between Twyla's eyebrows, and she thumbs Alexis' lower lip. "You were _sick_ ," she says, as if that's the only thing that matters. 

Alexis stares at her. "Twy," she says. Her voice comes out sounding rough and strained. " _Twy_. You're -" _Too sweet for anyone to ever deserve you_ , she thinks. _Too good for me. Too kind to be tangled up in my life._

But Twyla just kisses her, and swears, right against her mouth, "I'm _yours_ , Alexis. I have been for a long time." 

"Twy," Alexis whispers back. "I - yes. Me too." 

"You too?" Twyla asks, fingers carding through Alexis' hair. 

"I'm yours, too," Alexis says, a little desperately. "Right?" 

Twyla nods, her nose brushing along Alexis'. "You're mine," she says, and then bites Alexis' bottom lip so hard that Alexis whimpers. 

She's about to suggest relocating to her bed, sheets be damned, but Twyla's off her lap before she can say a word. Alexis stands up, too, grinning and thinking they've had the same idea, but instead of making her way toward the bed, Twyla goes over to her bag and rummages around in it before walking back to Alexis with a heart-shaped box in her hands. 

Twyla holds the box of chocolates out between them. "Do I have to ask?" she says, a little smile playing on her lips. 

Alexis looks down at the box, the cover of which asks, in shiny pink letters, _BE MINE?_

"No," she says, closing the distance between their bodies and putting her hands on Twyla's hips. "You never have to ask again." 

Twyla gazes up at her, eyes glittering with happiness. " _Never_ is a really long time, Alexis." 

"Yeah." Alexis nods seriously. "It better be," she adds, and then she leans down to kiss Twyla again.


End file.
